Blog

During the Global Financial Crisis there was a splash of taxpayer’s funds bigger than school halls, pink batts and $900 cheques combined. But it was a cash splash that no one knows about, because it was done by a part of government that has zero accountability to ministers, the parliament or the public. From...

Senator David Leyonhjelm has today pledged that elected Liberal Democrats Senators will introduce legislation that would free taxi drivers and ride sharers from the obligation to fill out the blizzard of paperwork required by our tax laws while their revenue is less than $75,000. In a video being distributed to Uber drivers around the...

The Marlboro Man has made his first appearance on an Australian billboard since at least 1992, on a 13-metre billboard on Victoria Road Rydalmere with Liberal Democrats Senator David Leyonhjelm. This is part of a major campaign for the Liberal Democrats, with posters and promotional material appearing in tobacconist shops around Australia in the...

The Liberal Democrats have increased advertising exposing the major parties’ budget lies, despite hypocritical complaints from the Coalition, and are opening a new front on the Coalition by attacking their backflip on superannuation taxes. As a result, the steady flow of defections of donors and members from the Coalition to the Liberal Democrats has...

Liberal Democrats Senator for NSW David Leyonhjelm is delighted to announce that the future of shooting sports in Sydney is assured after a 50-year lease of the ANZAC Rifle Range at Malabar was signed by the NSW Rifle Association yesterday. Senator Leyonhjelm made this a priority from day one of his tenure as Senator...

Liberal Democrats Senator David Leyonhjelm today called on both major parties to stop picking on smokers, after revealing his own costings provided by the Parliamentary Budget Office. The Liberal Democrats vehemently oppose tax hikes on smoking, and have supported the right of smokers to make their own choices for 15 years. In the interests...

The Liberal Democratic Party is Australia’s only party that does not appeal to voters based on the claim that it is better at spending our taxes. The Liberal Democrats believe Australians pay far too much tax and want to see the burden substantially reduced. Since 1996, per capita taxation has increased by more than...

Around 508 BC, when the Athenians established democracy, they recognised there should be a distinction between the public and private realms. Aristotle described the public realm as the site where people consent to or contest the laws, contracts, covenants, or principles of community that govern personal and social conduct. The private realm was defined by...

Whether or not the world is getting warmer, and whether humans are contributing, there is no justification for government intervention in the economy. The Liberal Democratic Party believes there will be far less misery if society is simply encouraged to adapt to a changing climate, allowing market responses to proceed and providing support to...

Everyone disapproves of things that others do. But if we prohibit all the things we disapprove of, nobody will be free. Smoking, drinking, gambling, eating and certain recreational activities are good examples. While they might be entitled to give advice about the risks, regulators are increasingly taking personal choices away from individuals based on...

Freedom of speech is one of our most fundamental rights and central to a free, democratic society. The importance of free speech is not diminished by the fact that some speech is wrong, mean or causes some to take offence. The best response to bad ideas is to expose them to the scrutiny that...

Retail, hospitality and tourism businesses across Australia will receive a huge shot in the arm if penalty rates on weekends are removed.LDP FF So says Senator David Leyonhjelm of the Liberal Democrats who will introduce a Bill next week to do just that, co-sponsored by Senator Bob Day of Family First. This coincides with...

Liberal Democrats Senator David Leyonhjelm has had a major win for shooters in the Australian Senate today. Shooters should be allowed access to the Adler A110 lever action shotgun in 12 months’ time, after Senator Leyonhjelm forced the Abbott Government to back down on a permanent ban. The deal also extracted a commitment from...

It has been brought to my attention that (Associate) Professor Brian Owler (President of the Australian Medical Association) took a few pot-shots at me and the Senate Inquiry into the Nanny State I’ll be chairing at the National Press Club yesterday. Among other things, he asserted that I am a ‘self-described libertarian’ and that...

“The Government is curtailing liberties by stealth”. Liberal Democrat Senator for NSW David Leyonhjelm has condemned the temporary ban on Adler lever action shotguns the Prime Minister announced on the weekend. The Adler A110 lever action shotgun was to be imported into Australia next month, but has now been banned until a review of...

“There is no more fundamental indication of individual freedom than the ability to decide what to do with our own body,” Senator Leyonhjelm writes. “If the law prevents us from making free choices about it then we are not really free at all; our bodies belong to the State.” “Nothing prevents us from having...

The Liberal Democrats are concerned that if you watch Bill Shorten’s Budget Reply Speech tonight you will nod off before Senator David Leyonhjelm delivers his speech at 8.30 pm.Budget Reply bingo Unlike Mr Shorten, Senator Leyonhjelm has actually published an alternative budget and has some things to say. To help you stay awake during...

Liberal Democrat Senator David Leyonhjelm has achieved an agreement with the Government that will give sporting shooters a new state-of the art home in western Sydney and free up $3 billion of land at Malabar. The agreement resolves ten years of uncertainty about the future of the site, including two occasions when previous governments...

Liberal Democrat Senator for NSW, David Leyonhjelm has hailed the findings of the Select Committee Inquiry on Wind Turbines as vindication of his motion to establish the inquiry and confirmation that regulation of the wind industry needs to change. “It is abundantly clear from the evidence of regulators, the community, local councils and wind...